Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Correcting a Common Misinterpretation of Last Sunday's Gospel: St. Peter DID NOT Sin When He Returned to Fishing

3rd Sunday of Easter,
Year C

John 21:1-19

There were together: Simon Peter
and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee,
and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter saith to
them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee.

It
is astonishing how popular an errant interpretation of a biblical passage can
become. Said by some priest somewhere, it will be picked up by many more and
soon becomes the standard interpretation of a given text. Such is the case with
John 21:2-3, when St. Peter and the other Apostles return to the practice of
fishing after our Lord’s Resurrection. Although many a Catholic heard last
weekend that Peter and the others were “backsliding” by returning to fishing,
the Catholic read of this Gospel has always maintained that the Apostles not
only did not sin, but in fact are praiseworthy in their fishing trip.

Considering
first the commentatorial tradition of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, we
will then look to the Gospel text itself and see that St Peter and the other
Apostles did nothing wrong when they went fishing perhaps two weeks after our
Lord had risen from the dead.

The Common Misinterpretation of
the Passage

St.
Peter and the other Apostles are commonly blamed for returning to the practice
of fishing after our Lord’s Resurrection: As though this were a relapse to
their old way of life, a return to their “pre-conversion” days. While Jesus had
once commanded Peter to catch the fish so as to pay the tribute – Go to the sea, and cast in a hook: and that
fish which shall first come up, take (Matthew 17:26) – the Apostles do not
seem to have been generally distracted with the business of fishing during the
roughly one year and an half in which they accompanied the Lord in his public
ministry.

Furthermore,
as the common interpretation goes, our Savior had explicitly told Peter that he
would no more catch fish but would be only a fisher of men when he stated, Come ye after me, and I will make you to be
fishers of men (Matthew 4:19) or again, Fear
not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men (Luke 5:10).

Therefore,
it would seem that St. Peter and the other Apostles sinned by relapsing to
their former ways when they went fishing at the Sea of Galilee after our Lord
had risen from the dead. Rather, they should have been “fishing for men”
through preaching the Gospel to all peoples.

This,
however, is radically contrary to the way that all the great saints and
theologians have interpreted the passage.

The Commentary of the Fathers and
Doctors of the Church

Following
the Fathers of the Church, and notably St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and
Pope St. Gregory the Great (indeed, all the Fathers who comment on this passage
agree), we make the following points:

1) The
Lord did not remain always with his Apostles after his Resurrection, but only
appeared at certain times and moments. Therefore, the Apostles were not
neglecting the Risen Christ when they went fishing.

2) The
Apostles had not yet received the Great Commission, Go therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 18:19). Rather, they
had been told by the women that Jesus said, Fear
not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me
(Matthew 18:10). In other words, it was the express command of the Lord that
they should return to Galilee rather than go out to the ends of the earth.

3) Fishing
is not a sinful occupation, but is a valid means of supporting oneself and
earning one’s bread. In a time of necessity, there was no sin that St. Peter
and the others should fish so as not to starve, even as St Paul supported
himself in his missionary travels by making tents.

4) Finally,
it is indeed most praiseworthy that the Apostles should have supported
themselves through the labor of their own hands, as there were at that time no
great number of believers to support them and they should not have burdened the
few women who knew of the risen Lord by requiring these few to support and care
for the eleven as well as for the other disciples who awaited Jesus’ appearing.

[the
quotations for these points from the Fathers is found below]

The Gospel Text Itself

Considering
the passage from St. John’s Gospel as a whole, it is clear that the Apostles
did nothing wrong in returning to the practice of fishing.

1) Unlike
many other post-Resurrection scenes, when Jesus appears he does not in any way
chastise the Apostles or rebuke them for their lack of faith. How striking this
is! Nearly every other time that Jesus appears to the Apostles after the
Resurrection, they are explicitly said to be of little faith or slow to believe
– but, here, nothing! No reprimand is given.

2) When the
Lord does appear, he does not demand that the Apostles cease their labor, but
rather tells them to continue fishing (only on the right side of the boat). If
the fishing were sinful, Jesus would not have commanded St. Peter and the
others to continue.

3) Furthermore,
the efforts of the Apostles are blessed with a miraculous catch of 153 fish [for
more on the significance of that number click (here)]. Clearly, the fishing of
the Apostles has been approved by the Lord through this great miracle – sinful
activities are not confirmed by miracles.

Conclusion – St. Peter and the Apostles
went back to the beginning, to find Jesus

St.
Peter followed the command of the risen Lord to return to Galilee and to wait
there for an apparition. When the Prince of the Apostles reached the place
where he had been called to follow Christ, he returned to the practice in which
he had heard that vocation. Having been called from the fishing boat, and since
the employment of fishing is itself a good and praiseworthy task especially
given the necessity of supporting himself and the other disciples who were
waiting for Jesus, St. Peter again returns to fishing knowing that the Lord
will come to him on the sea-shores even as he had before.

Those
who have had the privilege of making a pilgrimage to Galilee will likely have
noticed that the church which commemorates the miraculous catch of fish is
located very near the only major inlet to the sea. It is suspected that this
inlet was the common place where fishermen of that region would wash their nets
(since running water greatly facilitated this project). Therefore, it is no
stretch of the imagination to suppose that this place where St. Peter had
returned to fish was the very place in which Jesus had called him while he was
cleaning his nets and established him as a “fisher of men” (cf. Luke 5:1-11).

In
other words, St. Peter is not backsliding or relapsing in this passage, rather
he is returning to the place where he had received his call as an Apostle! He
is going back to the beginning, back to Galilee, back to where he had once met
Jesus (though, of course, he had first come to know the Lord even earlier while
a disciple of St. John the Baptist). Having returned to the beginning, St.
Peter did see Jesus, just as the Lord had told him he would.

Relevant Quotations:

Consider the following quotations of various Fathers of the Church, as
recorded in the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas:

St. John Chrysostom: “As our Lord was not with them regularly, and
the Spirit was as not given them, and they had received no commission, and had
nothing to do, they followed the trade of fishermen.”

Pope St. Gregory the Great: “It may be asked, why Peter, who was a
fisherman before his conversion, returned to fishing, when it is said, No man
putting his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
[…] The craft which was exercised without sin before conversion, was no sin
after it. Wherefore after his conversion Peter returned to fishing; but Matthew
sat not down again for the receipt? of custom. For there are some businesses
which cannot or it can hardly be carried on without sin; and these cannot be
returned to after conversion.”

St. Augustine: “If the disciples had done this after the death of
Jesus, and before His resurrection, we should have imagined that they did it in
despair. But now after that He has risen from the grave, after seeing the marks
of His wounds, after receiving, by means of His breathing, the Holy Ghost, all
at once they become what they were before, fishers, not of men, but of fishes.
We must remember then that they were not forbidden by their Apostleship from
earning their livelihood by a lawful craft, provided they had no other means of
living.”

Father Cornelius a Lapide
references the tradition in his commentary on this verse: “Different
writers give different reasons for this fishing. S. Chrysostom says, “Because the Lord was not
always with them, neither had any (ministry) been committed to them, they
employed themselves in fishing.” S.
Gregory (Hom. 24.) says, “An employment which was without sin before their
conversion was blameless after their conversion. Therefore Peter returned to
his fishing, but Matthew did not return to his receipt of custom. For there are
many employments which it is impossible, or scarcely possible, to follow
without sin. To such a man must not return after he is converted.” Let us add,
that this fishing took place before Pentecost and the descent of the Holy
Ghost, by whom they were bidden to preach the Gospel. Wherefore, because the Apostles
had nothing to occupy them at this time in the way of preaching, and they were
at once poor and fishermen, they properly went back to their fishing, in order
to supply themselves with sustenance. But after the advent of the Holy Spirit
we do not read that they employed themselves in fishing, for they were wholly
occupied in preaching the Gospel, and in guiding the faithful in the way of all
perfection. Whilst the faithful, being studious of evangelical poverty, brought
all their property to the feet of the Apostles, that they might distribute it
amongst themselves and the rest of the believers. At any time, however, of
necessity or want, they might lawfully have returned to their fishing, just as
Paul returned to his tent-making, that he might not be burdensome to others for
his livelihood. For this indeed is a matter of greater perfection, and
therefore an evangelical counsel, that one should preach the Gospel free of
charge (to the hearers), and provide for his own sustenance by the labour of
his hands.”

12
comments:

Thanks, Father. I have noticed that nearly every time I hear this Gospel, the default starting point in the homily is that St. Peter was doing something wrong. While I perhaps can see the attraction of such a starting point, I never understood it, really, and began to think it was another way to impugn the Apostles as ignorant, bigoted, incompetent fisherman. Yes...maybe he was just hungry.

I would think it a miracle that Peter and the others even went back to fishing considering the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus. They were probably still under suspicion by both the Sanhedrin and the Romans. Maybe the previous encounters with the risen Christ gave them the courage to try to get back to some type normalcy in their lives.

Apparition may not be an accurate description of this appearance, this fishing appearance was after the resurrection but before the ascension so it was a unique resurrection appearance. Saint Paul could describe his encounter with the risen Lord as an apparition since it was after the ascension. I know splitting hairs. Great article!

Thank's so much for that explanation Father. I have found it a puzzling episode knowing that Our Lord had appeared to them a number of times before, and seeing some sort of defeatist attitude there. After the Resurrection that wouldn't make sense.

Points 1, 2 and 3 are all make perfect sense and are very enlightening and help us understand much better what was going on and lead to the logical conclusions you draw.

Anonymous (April 13), Please use a pseudonym when you comment.One note regarding the appearance to St Paul -- It in fact is the same quality as the other post-Resurrection appearances to the other apostles. This is why St Paul is a true Apostle, because in a wholly miraculous and unusual way, Jesus appeared to St Paul in JUST THE SAME WAY that he had appeared to the others, even after the Ascension. In other words, the Lord returned to earth for that appearance! This will not happen again until the end of time!

Not only did the Lord approve of this fishing outing, He had a charcoal fire going and cooked fish awaiting at the shore for the hungry fisherman. "As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread." John 21:9

Several years ago I was wondering what all this Galilee stuff in the various gospel resurrection accounts was about. "Why Galilee?" I wondered. This was around Easter time. Just so happens the Pope, Francis, right around then gave a wonderful homily which I was fortunate enough to hear, explaining Galilee just the way you have explained it here: the Lord was telling them, and us, to return to the beginning, where we first met Christ, where we were first called, and etc. We each have our own Galilee.